If I Die Young
by Spawn of Sirius
Summary: This is just a one-shot of Cho and Cedric the day of the Third Task. I wrote this for an English project at school. More stories soon.


**Author's note: Hey guys! So, I had to write a short story in creative writing, so I wrote a story about Cedric and Cho, because I really love their love story. I decided to post it on here after I finished it. It's not very good, and it's a one shot. So please read and review if you want. I am going to do a Rose/Scorpius story soon, so stay tuned! Love you all!**

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When I arrived in the Great Hall, dinner had just begun. Without even thinking, I darted across the Hall to the Hufflepuff table and snaked in between Cedric and a blond and timid-looking third year boy. Cedric glanced at me.

"Hey," he said. He wasn't eating.

"How are you?" I inquired, noting the lack of color in his face and the disheveled quality of his hair.

"I'm fine," he said, picking at his food.

"Ced. Look at me." Cedric obliged reluctantly. "I know you. You're not okay. Talk to me."

Cedric sighed. "It's just… I don't know what's going to happen tonight, Cho. Nobody knows what that maze will do to us. I'm just nervous."

"Cedric! You've been preparing for a month; you know every spell there is to know that will help you out. You'll be fine," I assured him, smiling.

"Thank you," he said, smiling unconvincingly. He took a bite of his mashed potatoes.

Throughout the Great Hall, people were cramming food in their mouths while attempting to talk. The topic of conversation was all the same: the Third Task. Who would win? Would anyone die? A feeling of unease shot through me at that thought. No one could die. It simply wasn't possible. Dumbledore would never let that happen. Shaking my head, I returned my attention to the distressed champion next to me. Cedric was attempting to drink pumpkin juice while staring off into space. His goblet was a good six inches to the left of where his hand was reaching. Sighing, I took pity on him.

"Cedric, focus!" I picked up his goblet and placed it in his shaking fingers. Snapping out of his trance, he drank like a child dying of thirst. "Do you want to go over some spells? Would that help?"

"Yes!" Cedric looked at me like I'd just rescued him from a burning building.

Blushing, I continued.

"Okay. What spell would you use if you're trying to find out which way is north?" I quizzed.

"Point Me," Cedric murmured.

"Precisely. Now—" I broke off as Professor McGonagall stood up.

"All champions follow me," she commanded. Cedric paled and we both stood up.

"Cedric, look at me." He did. "You are better than them. You have been preparing for this. You can do this. You will win. Stay strong. Conquer them," I whispered to him, clutching his hands.

"Cho, you're the best thing that ever happened to me. If something goes wrong—"

I cut him off, squeezing his hands. "Nothing will go wrong! Don't think like that! Go, Ced. Win this tournament for me. For you. For Hufflepuff."

"I love you," Cedric breathed. He kissed me, and I could feel the goodbye behind it.

"I love you, too. This isn't goodbye. Good luck."

With that, Cedric left the Hall. I watched him go. A while later, the remaining teachers led the rest of the school to the Quidditch pitch, which was overflowing with enormous hedges. I saw Cedric standing with his father and the other champions at the mouth of the hedges. He looked so small.

I suddenly heard a voice behind me.

"Cho! Over here! I've been looking for you!" It was Emily. "Where were you at dinner? We were all worried!"

"Relax, Em. I'm here. I was with Ced at the Hufflepuff table." I glanced down at the champions, my stomach churning.

Emily pushed her blonde curls behind her ear. "Is he okay?" she asked, concern clouding her brown eyes.

"He will be," I reassured her. She smiled and took my hand.

The stands filled up with people as Emily led me to an open bench. The excitement was so thick it was almost tangible. Around us, people placed bets on their champion with their friends from the other two schools. The Slytherins badmouthed Harry to anyone who would listen. Laughter rang out from every corner of the stands. Nervous laughter, excited laughter, hysterical laughter, genuine laughter, fake laughter. Ron and Hermione, Harry Potter's best friends, kept to themselves, looking as if they were awaiting the gallows. Finally, Emily and I sat.

As if that were his cue, Bagman began explaining the Task. I didn't hear. Everything seemed so surreal. In slow motion, Cedric and Harry entered the maze, followed by Krum, and with Fleur bringing up the rear. The crowd was cheering so loudly that I couldn't hear my own thoughts. Once the maze sealed behind Fleur, the cheering turned to excited yelling and jabbering. We couldn't see what was going on inside the maze, so it was a waiting game. Heart pounding in my throat, I turned to Emily.

"What do you think is going on in there?" I asked, seizing the obvious conversation topic.

"I don't know. It must be so dark. I bet there is another dragon!" Emily exclaimed.

I shook my head. "Em, don't be stupid. We'd be able to see and hear a dragon."

"Oh yeah…"

We whiled away the time anxiously discussing what difficult objects the champions could come across in the maze. After a while, red sparks shot up into the sky and all the girls screamed. The teachers sprinted around the maze and disappeared from sight. Feeling like I'd swallowed a snake, I turned to Emily. My unspoken fear was reflected on her face. Silently, she put her arm around me. I reciprocated, and we both waited for the teachers to return.

Five agonizing minutes later, McGonagall and Flitwick returned, carrying the unconscious body of Fleur Delacour. While the Beauxbatons students freaked out, I couldn't help the wave of relief flowing through me. Even though Fleur was clearly in a dire state, Cedric was still out fighting in the maze. Next to me, Emily was silently thanking God, her lips moving rapidly, her breath coming in deep gasps.

I opened my mouth to say something, but suddenly red sparks shot into the sky again from the maze. Whatever I was about to say slipped from my head like water in cupped hands and my heart dropped to somewhere around my navel.

"Oh God, not again…" Emily moaned. She grabbed my hand and squeezed.

My heart pummeled against my ribs with the intensity of a machine gun. I closed my eyes. _Cedric, come on, _I thought._ Keep fighting. Please don't be the one sending up sparks. Stay strong._ Emily nudged me, and I opened my eyes. Snape was struggling towards the other teachers, carrying an injured Krum singlehandedly.

"Cho, he's alright, he's alright!" Emily cried, jumping up and down.

I laughed and cried at the same time. "He is! He can still win!" I wiped tears of joy off my cheeks.

After another hour, my optimism was fading. Night had fallen. There was no sign of Harry or Cedric. All they had to do was reach the Triwizard cup in the middle of the maze to be declared winner. It couldn't take them this long. Something had to have gone wrong.

_Stop it,_ I told myself. _There would be red sparks if they weren't okay. He is still alive. Calm down._ I once again turned to Emily.

"Em, what's taking so long?" I asked, silently telling the butterflies in my stomach to get the hell out.

"I'm sure it's nothing. The maze just must be tougher than we think," Emily reassured me, but I couldn't help but notice how incessantly she checked her watch.

I nodded. And then, cutting through all my nervous thoughts, it happened.

A flash of light startled my retinas. I blinked rapidly, trying to figure out what happened. After my eyes adjusted, I saw it.

Harry Potter had appeared in the middle of the lawn, one hand on the Triwizard Cup, the other hand clutching Cedric's arm. For a millisecond, elation flooded me, but it was rapidly replaced with horror as the student body began shrieking.

Something was wrong. Very wrong. Cedric wasn't moving. Harry was sobbing. Why wasn't Cedric moving? The teachers converged on the two bruised and bloody boys, and suddenly it hit me.

The world stopped moving.

I couldn't breathe. Tears poured down my face as I tried to take in what had just happened. I could hear the screams and cries around me. I could see the chaos, the people sobbing into each others' arms, but it was as though I were seeing it from far away.

"He's dead! Diggory!"

"Oh my God, Cedric!"

The yells of terrified students cut me to the core. At that moment, the staff shifted and I got a clear view of his body lying on the ground, cold and lifeless, his once sparkling eyes empty and staring. My resistance collapsed. I didn't care where I was or who saw me- all that I knew was that I needed to get to him as fast as possible, to tell him how much I love him and to please, please wake up. My heart thudded violently in my chest as I jumped three rows of seats and sprinted down the steps toward the maze. Just as I reached the bottom, a hand grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.

"Cho, don't." It was Emily. "You don't—"

"Let go of me!" I screamed, fighting tooth and nail to get away from her. "I need to see him!"

"And do what?" Tear tracks stained Emily's cheeks as well. "You can't change this!"

"No! I don't believe it!" I yelled at Emily, who was looking positively alarmed at my behavior.

"Trust me, you don't want to see him like this. You want to remember him smiling and laughing. Seeing him will only make you hurt more." Her voice broke and she looked away.

"I don't—He just—how—this can't be true. It can't. He's not—He can't be…" I sobbed, angrily drying my eyes on my robes.

"Cho, listen to me. He's gone. Nothing anyone can say or do will change that. I don't know what happened tonight and I don't know why. But I do know how much he loved you. I don't ever want you to forget that, and I don't think he would want that either. Always remember that, okay?" Emily wrapped her arms around me as I dissolved completely. Together, we stood in the stands and cried.

Cedric Diggory loved me.

I lost him.

Cedric. Loved. Me.

I vowed to myself right then and there that I would never stop loving him.


End file.
